ARRL DX Contest, SSB Call: KQ2M Operator(s): KQ2M Station:
KQ2M Class: SOAB HP QTH: CT Operating Time (hrs): 23.1 Summary: Band QSOs
Mults ------------------- 160: 0 0 80: 0 0 40: 18 14
20: 1062 106 15: 1590 103 10: 72 32 ------------------- Total:
2742 255 Total Score = 2,081,565 Club: Frankford Radio Club Comments:
Feeling a bit better for this contest - managed 10 hours straight of SSB
operating! Still plagued by severe line noise and lots of broken antennas,
antennas/rotators without indicators, etc. It's still Winter in New England
and
we still have 12"-15" of snow on the ground, so lots of downed wires still
frozen solid in the ice. You can tell which bands I had some working antennas
on. :-) Here is description of the ARRLDX contest at the KQ2M qth....
Pre-Contest: Cndx look good and 15 probably going to rock. Antennas/rotators
did not get fixed so this will be a part-time effort to gradually re-learn how
to operate contests with one radio (starting modestly) and see how I hold up.
0000z 15 pretty much dead and 20 sounds good but my top antenna is wind
rotated and point at South Pacific - not very motivating. The 40 meter wire
beam is in pieces and 80/160 in the ice. I'll get some sleep and get up early
for 15. 12z 20 is rocking but antenna still pointed at South Pacific - not
very
helpful for an EU run. I bypass 20 and to 15 which is OPEN BIG! I go up the
band to 21247 and start a run. The line noise is AWFUL and I can't filter it.
Very hard to copy the EU stations calling - lots of repeats with rapid QSB
thrown in. I make the best of it and have a 212 hour on 15 SSB and work 400
stations in 2 hours. Deep pileups but very few Northern EU stations and
Russians calling in. JY5CC, 7Z1SJ and YB0MWM are the most notable DX stations.
14-15z The rate keeps dropping on 15 to 157 and then 121 as the absorption
begins to set in. Lots of central/western EU stations but little heard farther
North despite what appear to be good cndx. V51YJ calls in @ 1551z. At 1630z I
qsy to 20 with 15 still open but dramatically fading. Now I realize that 15
opens and closes repeatedly and I am probably giving up a lot of potantial q's,
but I have not been on 20 yet and more importantly, the wind has rotated the
top
20 back to EU, so I better take advantage of this "gift" while I can. I'm
fresh
meat on 20, so when I open up on 14189 I gets lots of calls, but stations are
not too strong and there is lots of qrm. The line Noise is not as bad on 20
and
that makes it a bit easier to hear. At 1700, TF3AO calls in REALLY LOUD! but I
am hearing very few Russian and Northern EU stations. A "head-scratcher" for
sure. At 1745z the run starts picking up but the fan noise on my Titan 425 has
gotten so loud that I can now hear it through the headphones! I wonder if that
means anything? At 1750z, the fan noise COMPLETELY goes away. That's cool!
But wait, that's kind of weird! What does it mean? It doesn't take long to
find out.... 1752z SMOKE! Lots of it coming out of Titan. DAMN! I shut the
amp off and take the back-up Titan out and replace the smoked one. The smoke
is
really nasty and probably toxic. I better clear out of here. I open the
windows and come upstairs. After an hour, the air clears. Let's hook up the
backup Titan... POP!!! DAMN! 2nd Titan out of action. Hmmm.... Now what?
Do
I hook up the old SB220? I decide to take another break. My head hurts, I am
really tired and really disappointed. I eat some lunch, lie down for a while,
and then emboldened by a fresh cup of coffee, I decide to hook up my Ameritron
AL-1500 that has not been used in almost 10 years!(even though it has a fresh
tube with less than 100 hours on it!). Will it work or will it blow also? I
nervously turn it on and smell something "funny" coming out, but no "POP!" this
time. Let's see what happens when I tune it up. Seems to work, ok let's find
a
spot to "CQ Contest". 14154 is open @ 2024z and not many stations are on -
probably 15 is still open to EU. A few callers greet me and then 5X1NH calls
in
@ 2026z followed by a few more EU and then JA1BPA calls in @ 2037z - a bit
early
for here - possibly a good sign..... @ 2038z someone "flips the big switch" to
the BAND OPEN position and a pileup of EU/JA starts! V51YJ calls in @ 2110z
and
then JA's and Eu stations alternate. The wind rotates the antenna East and the
rate drops. Time to try 15. Lots of mults @ 2148z on and the JA's on 15 are a
solid 57 but only a few of them. I work the available mults and go back to 20
@
2330z where the antenna is now pointed SSE and work the SA/CA countries and
then
pick up a few JA/UA0 staions off the back of the beam. They must be really
loud
if you can point an antenna right at them! @ 0030z the gusty winds drive the
antenna back North and it gets stuck pointed at 0 degrees. GOOD TIMING! I
park
on 14186 and call cq with BD4SS, RW0CV and 2 KL7's calling in. Not much else
though and I try 40 with the remnants of the wire beam (the one that was
shredded during ARRLCW weekend). EU is loud and stacked 2-3 deep - I work 2
stations and decide that it isn't worth the struggle. I take a break and eat
dinner. At 02z I come back downstairs and park on 14190 and have a GREAT RUN!
BD9TX, VU3DJQ, UN8GV, HS0ZEE call in with a lot of US9's/UA0's. WOW! THIS IS
FUN! The run continues with lots of JA/UA0/KL7 and and UN2E and UP5P. The run
peters out at 0245 and I try 40 again. I work a few more EU and SA/CA and
Caribbean stations but I am too tired to deal with the crud/intermod and
"hand-to-hand" combat of 40 phone. I go back to 20, work a few more SA
stations
off the back of the beam and pack it in. The geogmagnetic field is quiet and
no
flaring is evident so Sunday should be fun! The AL-1500 is working like a
champ
and it is nice and quiet and not too hot. I am psyched for Sunday! 1030z I
pick out 14202 - away from "Multi-land" and decide to get a good run going
before the crud moves up from the 14150 region. I quickly hear a "buzz" of EU
stations calling and they are NOT waiting patiently. I call for a G3 and a UX1
and an IW2 come back. I try it again and this time an LZ2 joins the chorus of
callers. Perhaps I am using the wrong accent and not being understood? Or
maybe I am speaking the wrong language? :-) The pileup continues to grow and
rates top 250+ for the "last 10". I am hearing Northern EU and UA9BA is the
first UA9 @ 1100z. Willy isn't very loud but then I haven't hear any other
UA9's either. By 1110z, I have worked 6 more UA9's and @ 1118z JT1BV calls in
with a solid S7 signal! Yes, the band is OPEN! Now we get to the time when 20
alternates between being long and short. At 1120z the band goes short and I
hear mostly Central/Westerm EU and at 1135z the band goes long again with a few
JA's calling in with BD7IS, VR2XMT and BD4QH all calling un the next 7 minutes.
In the following 15 minutes, the band alternates again between short and long a
few more times but with decent sunspots, the band finally stays long - EU gets
weak and VK6HX, VK6DU, BH7PFH, HS0ZCW, VK6HAD and lots more JA's call in. I
know that 15 is probably screaming open now, but 20 is too much fun too leave!
The 11z hour was a 164 hour and I decide to stay a bit longer... 1200z and it
is getting late for 20 but the rate is in the 200+ zone and 7X2BK, BA4DL, DU9RG
and a dozen other JA's call in follwed by HS0ZDX. At 1225z I move to 15 and am
amazed to find 21206 open. I call cq and BEDLAM! 200++ with HS0ZDX calling in
on 15 now S9 and louder than most of the EU stations! By 1230z the last 10
minute rate gets up to 292.7! and I narrowly miss having a "7" minute!
Although
the rate is excellent there are very few Russians calling in, however, the
Northern path is still somewhat open as HS0ZIN calls in @ 1354z. 7X5AV follows
at 1357 but they are sandwiched by almost all EU stations. 15 slows down to a
120-140 hour pace due to the combination of severe line noise, constant cq
interlopers and the usual idiot tuners, whistlers and whiners. I learned long
ago to ignore these people - you never acknowledge them and they eventually go
away. They go away especially fast when you get a roaring pileup going and
work
3 per minute right through them. This deflates them quickly. Usually I am
concentrating so hard that I forget that they are there. 14z was a 128 hour
and as Central EU gets louder, I start wondering about 10? HZ1PS calls in @
1451z and when some Russians start calling in about 1515z (cndx clearly
improving since I did not hear them earlier!) I decide to try 10 @ 1530z.
Before I go, A92IO calls in VERY LOUD! 1530z 10 is OPEN! Not very well and
not
many stations, but the band should open better in a little while. I work some
SA and TJ3AY and hear an outrageously loud SV9CVY - almost 59+20! SV1CQN is
59+
and a few other SW EU stations like CT1EVE are also 59 but little else. I tune
up the band (no packet here) and work a loud 3V8SS and GM7R who is also S9+20!
I decide that 10 HAS too open and call CQ on 28532 and am greeted immediately
by
ZS6ANZ and TF3ARI calling in who is S9! WOW! I call cq and then the run starts
- G's, EA's, SV's - a great run for *8* minutes. DARN! Another 10 meter
"run-tease". I tune some more and find and work a VERY LOUD ST2AR! I just KNOW
that 10 will open again later but 15 is hot and there are lots of stations yet
to be worked. At 1634z I resume my run on 21215 - Germany is loud now so the
rates shoot up to 200+ again. 17z is a 121 hour with TF3AO calling in and at
1803z, 5X1NH calls in. The band stays open but there are not many loud
stations
left to work so the line noise swallows the up. ZA1E calls in @ 1823z and it
is
time to qsy back to 20. There is a "hole" at 14173 and I start running there
with HZ1PS calling in @ 1841z. At 19z I have a 116 hour and 4S7BRG calls in @
1917z. I try 40 briefly @ 2003z and work TM9R but he is the only EU station
that
hears me and I go back to 15. As I thought, 15 has reopened to EU and I have
an
excellent run of G's mixed in with PA's and a few weak DL's. The line noise is
deadly so it is back to 20 on 14156 @ 2107z for another hour of EU with an
occasional JA and VK but then the wind picks up and rotates the top antenna to
another direction and the rate falls. At 2226, I decide to try 15 and see if
the band will open to JA. Most of the band is "empty" - probably everyone on
20
and 40. 21203 is open and I call cq. Although the rate is slow, I am called
by
a steady stream of JA's and VK's. DU9RG calls in @ 2256z and YC9AOS calls in @
2309z. The opening gets better and the JA's get louder. BV1EK calls in @
2327z
followed by BD4QH @ 2330z and DS5TOS @ 2337z. It was clearly a good idea to
leave 20 and come to 15! I finish the contest on 15 with a 62 hour - mostly JA
but with a few UA0's, and SA stations thrown in with the mults noted above.
The
Auroral Oval was @ 6 (out of 10) in the last hour, so the heavy absorption in
the polar region explains why I did not have a better JA run to end the
contest.
I was surprised to work more than 2,650 q's on 15 + 20 (1,590 on 15 alone!)
despite missing MANY prime-time hours on both bands. I was also pleased at the
106 mult on 20 and 103 on 15 with very little time spent looking for mults. I
felt that my 15 and 20 meter totals compared very favorably to the big multis
with the limited time that I had and major antenna/rotator problems. I did
miss
another - and better - opening to EU on 10 around 17z about 30 minutes after I
left the band. Operating Unassisted without the benefit of packet/DX Summit,
etc., and without a 2nd radio, I had no way of knowing for sure that 10 was
open
and runnable. I missed it. But I did catch the GREAT JA/Southeast run on 15
at
the end of the contest. It has been 6 years since that happened and it was
most
enjoyable and welcome! The AL-1500 performed like a true champ - quiet, cool
and powerful! I was thinking of selling it (since I had not used it in 10
years), but now I think I will keep it! :-) I was very happy that I was able
to operate for as long as I did. SSB is TOUGH to operate for long periods of
time under normal circumstances, but after what I have been through for the
past
5 months, I had no idea what my body could handle, even with one radio. It did
take me about a week to fully recover from the 23 hours of operating, and I
still have a long, long way to go with this nasty illness, but to be able to
operate this much was a very encouraging step for me. Tnx for all the qso's
and
mults! GO CYCLE 24! 73 Bob KQ2M kq2m at kq2m.com
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